Recent reviews by mjaau

Amazing game, trash devs. First they release Definitive Edition and stop updating this one (which is fair), but then they tried goading the playerbase to their new game while literally acting as if this game never existed. People who played AoE in their childhood are here for this game specifically, not DE!! If you want to get this on sale, forget it. Devs are now making sales for their "new" definitive games exclusively. In other words, this gem here will never go on sale again. Oh...did I also mention they drained the logo of all colour and added retired to the title...like who does that??

It somehow makes sense in the end, but...literally the most garbonzo drawing ever. Worse than a doodle. A preschooler would do better. I can hardly call this a VN...cause it's not. It's a boring, lazy, uninspired and definitely unfinished project that somehow sells for $ on Steam. Lol.

IT'S WESKIN' TIME

Coming from Duel Links, I have to say...this game is a straight upgrade in every possible way!

***Duel Links RANT***
Sure, you could play as any character in Duel Links, provided you had them unlocked. And they had some cool voice lines and stuff. But the grind was just...unbearable. Want a new character? Grind for them. Want to build a cool deck? Open packs (farm gems or pay to play in order to do so), in hopes of pulling a Mystic Tomato (for example) just so you can finish building your Fiend deck...And don't even get me started on the card crafting system - the card trader stock refreshes and...again, nothing useful! For the...10th time in a row? -.- The same select cards on rotation, forever! The glossy/prismatic craft costs are insane. You spend hours and hours farming jewels to craft...and for what? PvP? Ha. Ha. You get matched vs someone from the other side of the world and his sh*tty connection will not allow you to enjoy the game, like at all. And he's probably playing meta too. No thanks. PvE? The same events in rotation, over and over again until it gets so boring it's not even worth to join them and try to farm the good cards (ah, let's not forget that feeling when you've already grinded the hell out of an event and it makes a return in less than a month with the same stuff to farm for lol).
***End of Duel Links RANT***

Alright, time to talk about Master Duel. Pros? Let's see...
* doesn't force you to do PvP (even though it is mainly PvP)
* has a proper tutorial, doesn't instantly throw online opponents with meta decks at you. Instead game makes sure to explain every mechanic (even if you haven't played YGO before)
* in Solo mode you can play against AI with pretty basic but decent enough decks to challenge the starter decks you are given after finishing tutorials.
* you can even play test your decks vs said AI if you're building a fun/meme deck! And...you still get rewarded for doing so? (just a quick parallel, in Duel Links, you autoduel vs a random duelist, then
a. most of the time you get nothing out of it and
b. autoduel is so stupid you can actually lose -.-

Starter decks? After the tutorial and ~ 1-3 duels vs AI you can ditch those and start building any decks you want. Just open some packs, dismantle unwanted cards and craft whatever you need. Every card is accessible through crafting (generating) and not locked to just being pulled from packs :)
You get rewarded. Let me say that again. rewarded
In Duel Links you'd be getting a single R jewel per duel, if you're lucky. Here you get crystals. For literally everything you do...yes, much like Duel Links' gems but you only need 100 per pack and that's amazing. Whatever you pull from packs you can turn into crafting points. Then you just craft the cards you want ;)

In conclusion, I have to say...this is the premium dueling simulator experience. Ranked, campaign, deckbuilding, deck testing, no grind - all here. Superior to Duel Links in every way.

***The Rant***

Man where do I start...well, with what bothers me most - I hate linear VNs. Especially ones this g a y

Even the only guy in this wears a purple sweater like, what the heck
Who does that? Don't you think it would have been a much better story if it was just about friends going through college?

What started as a nice lil VN quickly took a 180 degree turn and became...uh, I dunno, the most boring cringe aah story ever? But oh well, I was already halfway through - might as well finish it. I regret that decision now.

After getting to Act 2 you'll start noticing something. Story feels...rushed. I'm talking about the insane amount of typos, but also the general flow of it all. Plotholes are starting to surface and they leave you with tons of questions. In other words, reading becomes quite the tedious experience, with all the inconsistencies and what not.

Incoherence is the name of the game. I was still somewhat excited to keep going at the start of Act 2. I was quickly turned off by the fact that the whole game is clearly about message - comfort and assurance for individuals who have yet to come out and that it's okay. Well...no. Just no. To be frank, I don't mind. I really don't. But the way this was done triggers me. You just don't open up into a sweet lil VN like this and turn it into...whatever this is.
My question is...did it really have to be this way? Why couldn't this be about finding friends in college? Oh and I don't know, at least give us a single choice to make lol.

If you really love gae stuff, then this is for you.

I love the possibilities and what you can do with decks in this game. I also love the fact it requires more than one brain cell to play. I find myself constantly playing out possible scenarios in my head and "what ifs" when I'm playing my decks. The game does have a steep learning curve, true, but once you get the hang of most mechanics and get familiar with what some cards do it's a lot easier to dive into deckbuilding which is honestly the most fun you can ever have here, in my opinion. Believe me, building your own deck can be so much fun. Saving for the cards, crafting them, assembling the deck and testing it out vs random meta slaves and what not actually feels REALLY satisfying! (when you win of course, lol)

Animated cards is another huge reason to play.
You get currency with which you can upgrade your normal cards into premium version ones that sometimes have cool animations.

You might think it's pay to win. To that I say no, not really. My friend bought the premium journey pass and did get a lot of good stuff but rng plays a huge role. Why? Let's just say you can get really unlucky with it. My luck when I open stuff sucks. A lot. Same goes for the coin toss every ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game. So yeah, you can be extremely unlucky even if you pay for currency.

One more thing. Characters. Some are done exceptionally well. One of my favorites is Cleaver and his way over the top/ quotes aimed at his twice as tall opponents while he himself is a dwarf. But when that dwarf threatens he will "carve ya a bloody new bumhole", you better believe it, buddy. He's definitely not joking around. It just sounds so freakin' good that I love it. Taunts are without a doubt the funniest thing in the game. Spamming a line that sounds like an insult to some and such a good joke to others (me) is way too fun.

Edit: This game was abandoned and left running on life support. This has been the case for years
No new content, balance left to tryhards and incompetent individuals as well as streamers is a huge turn off for me personally and I cannot recommend the game in its current state. It just.. died slowly but surely and it's too long gone by now :(

Got the game as a gift from my friend (thanks man) but I was about to try it anyway, maybe even buy if I loved it. Well, it's a gem. Pretty overwhelming at first but given how there is a proper tutorial and everything is designed to actually help you, you can't get lost. Little by little I started learning and, I'm gonna be honest I'm having tons of fun. There's a looot to do and I mean a lot. Huge world, many characters to pick from, many quests to go on, much to do and all that! What's not to love about BDO? I have yet to play and find out.

Well, where do I start? I love most if not everything about this game. Buying the Ultimate Edition felt like a great decision at the time and it really is. You'll get tons of fun and even more if you have a few friends who are willing to try this with you.

Game is pretty, mechanics are stable (with a few exceptions), lots of difficulties to try, lots of achievements to attempt to unlock, there's skins and most importantly lots and I mean LOTS of content. Updates are kinda rare but still coming, community is awesome and helpful for the most part, there's variety.

Here's a small detail called tactic - you may go loud or stealth, depending if the heist allows it. While I find stealth more enjoyable, loud definitely is the fan favorite here.

Well, what are ya waitin' for? Come shoot some cops and get that payday lol.

Okay, don't get me wrong, this has potential. But...it fails to deliver. I'm sorry. My main gripe is...there's literally no way to increase brightness!?
Most of the time you will find yourself wandering through the labyrinths in total darkness. Monsters are super easy to hear, but oh so hard to see. They spot the hero even while the torch is put out (why??) at a certain distance. And the torch? The most inconsistent piece of shii ever lol. I can't see properly unless I find the Light power.
There was this run where I was about done with everything. Just had to unlock the door and escape. And...I didn't make it -.- Not because of the monsters, no. Because of the stupid traps placed in some of the most bs spots around the labs. Anyway, I knew where the trap was and avoided it. But, there's no proper collision and game decided I stepped on it. And fall to my death I did. Needless to say, I was mad lol.

This review will stay negative for a few more reasons...
You start empty handed. Weapons that you can buy cost gold and most of them aren't cheap. At all, in fact.
If you die you lose your items.
If you strike a barrel you lose your weapons (whose bright idea was that?!)
Finding weapons in labs is hard. And the main reason one would stay in a lab and explore is to find gold! To get better gear...and eventually lose it...you see what I'm getting at?

What happens when you don't have a weapon?
a. you can't defend yourself
b. you are unable to break vases, which is important. Why? Low on health? Break a vase, there's a good chance you may end up with a healing item. Low on gold? They drop gold too! And if you can't break 'em? You're screwed and runs are pretty much pointless.


TL;DR Lots of monsters to avoid in total darkness, unforgiving and buggy, pretty confusing at first, steep learning curve, really rough start :(

Who the heck binds reload to Q and melee attacks to Space? Why does a pistol only have 3 bullets in the mag? Why does the protagonist carry only one fresh mag? What are these janky controls?? Those are just a few of the questions you will be asking yourself. Yes, the game is that bad

You get to make 3 shots per mag. All the while the enemies continuously spam their weapons. With 3 or more enemies game becomes a bullet hell.

Sneak? Out of the question, very poorly designed. Enemies can see you from well over the map. This is a problem. Dogs are easily alerted (but you don't see them yet on the map) and so they charge, alerting most of the enemies around. Oh, and the map? Yeah it's the same thing every time. They just add more rocks and create narrow passes with each "new" layout
Objects like rocks and trees are a massive obstruction for the protagonist. He can sneak around and still get detected.

Shooting is inconsistent to say the least. Difficulty is really hard. You will have a really rough time getting through this. And then...the final battle - probably a breath of fresh air because compared to the rest of the game? It's way too easy.
Story is...alright I guess? Still, doesn't make up for the absolute garbage the rest of the ''game'' is.

Final thoughts
Trash/10, don't bother with this and spend your time on a good game instead.